


64 Prompts Drabbles and Shorts

by highspeedgays (snowonpalecheeks)



Category: Free!
Genre: Drabble Collection, Friendship, Gen, High ☆ Speed!, M/M, Relationship(s), SouMako - Freeform, Swimming, reigisa - Freeform, rinharu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2014-09-29
Packaged: 2018-02-19 05:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2376200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowonpalecheeks/pseuds/highspeedgays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shorter pieces for the 64 prompt challenge (roughly 500 words or less, things that are really just slice of life and short) that aren't really long enough to be posted by themselves. Standalone/longer pieces will still be posted as separate parts of the series. Thanks for reading!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #3 - Sky (Makoto)

Makoto swims the backstroke because when he opens his eyes, he can still see the sky.

Unlike the sea, the sky isn’t menacing or heavy above him.

Unlike the pool, the sky is limitless and vast and inviting. As long as he’s looking up at the sky, Makoto can resist being weighed down by his own foolish fears.

His experience is completely opposite of Haruka’s, and Makoto is made more aware of this with each passing day.


	2. #2 - Metaphor (Makoto)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Makoto is still afraid of the water.

_The water is alive._

Makoto shivered a bit remembering Haruka’s words.

He was jogging along the border where wet, stiff sand transitioned into the softer beach, and he subconsciously altered his course a bit further above the foaming waterline.  _Just to be safe_ , he thought, though he felt a little foolish.


	3. #44 - turpentine kisses and mistaken blows (rinharu)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haruka thinks he's dying because why else would his heart hurt so much?

“Am I going to die?”

Haruka knelt meekly beside his grandmother’s rocking chair. His small fingers were situated on the arm of the chair, and his chin pressed sharply into his knuckles where it rested.

He waited for her answer with his breath held tight in his chest, so sure that she was going to deliver the worst of news.

Instead, she chuckled softly and continued to stare out the window. “No, of course not, dear.”

“But my heart  _hurts_ …” He laid his head on its side, knuckles bumpy against his teeth through the thin skin of his cheek. His grandmother's gnarled fingers raked shakily through his hair.

Haruka closed his eyes. He immediately opened them again.  _That guys_  face was all he could see on the backs of his eyelids.

_("I won't be attending middle school here._

_I'm going to **Australia**.")_

[...]

 


	4. #37 - Kind (SouMako; Rin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sousuke doesn't think Makoto is everything he seems; no one's _that_ perfect.

_“I brought enough for everyone.”_

Sousuke frowned at the broad back of the Iwatobi captain standing before him.

He was distributing ice pops and sports drinks to members of both teams in his usual unassuming way.

And it threw Sousuke off kilter. How could  _anyone_  actually be that nice?

He’d asked Rin once, but his friend had only laughed softly and muttered something about Makoto being the nicest person he would ever meet.

Sousuke wasn’t so sure. Something about that guy rubbed him the wrong way.


	5. #1 - 2 a.m. (Haruka)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Haruka is probably in need of an intervention for his water problem.

Haruka doesn't choose when the urge to sink into the water sets in.

The water calls to him on its own schedule.

It may hit him just before school, when he’s supposed to be dressing and cooking and doing all the things that parents would normally do for their teenagers, himself. He knows it confuses Makoto, but he couldn't explain it if he tried, so he doesn't.

He may slip into the pool an hour before classes are officially dismissed, and if he’s missing from his last period, no one will bother to look for him. Makoto will make Haruka’s apologies for him, and it’s not as if sensei isn’t fully aware of how futile dragging him back to the classroom  would be. Instead, he’ll receive a confusing lecture from her later, and it seems like a relatively even trade.

More often than not, the water will reach for Haruka in the middle of the night. It will twine its siren song into his dreams and rouse him from even the deepest sleep. A few hours after midnight, when even the cicadas have fallen silent in their tree perches and the stars are stark pin-pricks in the sliver of sky visible from the slightly open window above the bathtub -- regular as clockwork -- Haruka will sink into the waist high water. He’ll hiss softly and wait as his skin breaks out into goose-pimple flesh and his body adjusts to the sudden change in temperature.

Then, he’ll disappear beneath the surface.


	6. #51 - Above (Rin, Makoto)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rin appreciates Makoto's friendship.

Rin climbs to the top of the unsteady observation tower at the far end of the pool. It’s a glorified lifeguard tower, with bulked up railing to prevent falls and a small diving platform off the side in case the occupants need to quickly enter the water to retrieve a swimmer in distress. It’s been used by the coaches and captains at Samezuka for generations, and each time he approaches it, he’s aware of the weight of history upon his shoulders.

Will he propel the team to victory at nationals?

Will he run Samezuka Academy’s reputation as a swimming powerhouse into the ground?

Will he fail his team? Will he be a good captain?

These questions come and go from time to time but are heaviest when he stands atop the tower looking down over the lanes of the giant pool and watching his team practice.

Today is a joint practice with Iwatobi, so he’s invited Makoto to stand atop the tower with him as the visiting team captain. They silently observe and take notes for a while, but eventually they run out of things to write down and they both end up sitting on the edge of the platform, legs dangling, clipboards discarded on the dusty floorboards of the tower.

It reminds Rin distinctly of sitting atop the high diving board at Iwatobi SC with Makoto back when they were in sixth grade. They’d been watching Haruka practice for the 100m and Coach Sasabe had told them to climb up to the top for a better view. Though he’d probably never told Makoto, he really did think of him as a friend back then.

He still did.

Makoto shifts a bit beside him, rousing Rin from his nostalgic thoughts. “Hey, Rin...thanks.”

He says it without pretext. He doesn’t turn his head away from the swimmers below for even one moment. But Rin knows exactly what expression he’s making, and the corner of his mouth tilts up just a bit.

“Whatever…” he mumbles, but his voice gives him away. It’s soft with tentative joy that has been welling up inside of him ever since the unsanctioned relay that cost both teams the title, but somehow meant everything to those involved.

They sit quietly for a while longer before silently agreeing to climb down the ladder together.

**.end**


	7. #12 - Children (Makoto, Haruka)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Makoto wants to enjoy things with his best friend just the way they are for a little longer (and he's a sweet coward).

Ren and Ran were running circles around Haruka’s knees again, and though his expression never changed, Makoto could tell that he didn’t mind it at all.

Makoto put his hand on Ran’s hair and ruffled it a bit, effectively distracting her from begging Haruka to play house. She beamed up at him adoringly. “What is it, big brother?”

“Ran, can you please let Mom know that Haru’s staying for dinner?” He smiled back at her, knowing it would motivate her to do what he asked, and she scurried off toward the kitchen with a quick “Sure!” thrown over her shoulder, wholly dedicated to the task at hand. He watched her go fondly, and couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate how cute his siblings were. He was going to miss them when he left for university, but... _ah_ , he didn’t really want to think about that yet.

Across the room, Haruka was still being shepherded by Ren toward the twins’ bedroom. Rather than interfering, Makoto decided to let him have his moment in the sun. Ren had been waiting all week to show off his new super senshi action figures to Haruka, whom he likely idolized even more than he did Makoto. It was kind of adorable how he grasped Haruka’s hand, and Haruka -- patient as ever when it came to the twins -- allowed himself to be led.

 _I’ll miss this._ Makoto couldn’t stop the thought from bubbling nervously to the surface amidst a million other related worries and regrets as he followed them into the bedroom. He was supposed to be excited about the acceptance letter he’d received in the mail that morning, but ever since opening it, his insides had been tied up into anxious knots.

He didn’t worry that Haruka would react badly. He knew he didn’t need to. Haruka would probably say the minimum congratulations and Makoto would feel foolish and regret letting it get him so wound up. Then, they’d laugh (well, Makoto would) and they’d play video games for the rest of the night.

He was mostly worried about  _afterward_  -- when Haruka would head home and the twins would fall asleep and the house would settle with quiet and calm. The cicadas would buzz outside his open window, rising and falling, a chorus not very different from the rise and fall of the waves at sea, and Makoto would finally realize that by saying it out loud to his best friend he had made it real. He was really leaving Iwatobi…

Makoto leaned against the doorway to watch as Ren explained each of his new figures to Haruka. His hands began to shake faintly at his sides the longer he watched them, and he closed them into fists to halt the oncoming storm building up inside his chest. His heart ached at the prospect of being separated from his family. It ached at being separated from Haruka. For the first time in over ten years he would be well and truly on his own.

Makoto wasn’t sure he would know what to do with himself.

**.end**


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